Heart of Ice
by Tequoia
Summary: The loneliness froze her heart, pulse a bitter chill. She discovers the hot touch of ice itself will be the most soothing fire her soul will ever experience. The gelid she has known all her life melts to the incredible warmth and love of a man even colder than herself. Still, she'll find that there were more who cared, but couldn't help. FemNaru/Haku Mina/Kushi
1. 1: Frozen Memories

I read some interesting Naru/Haku fics, found that I enjoyed them _A LOT_, and the potential was palpable. I wanted to try my hand at it.

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_Emphasis_

**"'Tailed beasts/Boss summons/Demons/Emphasis on someone who is angry'"**

* * *

_**I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden**_

* * *

Naruto panted tiredly in the freezing air.

While she got away unscathed, yet again, it was still painful.

Noticing that there were people just outside who were going to get in, she tried to hurry.

Finally inside of her apartment, she stumbled into her room. Taking a quick glance at the state of her room she realized this place wasn't safe either, but she simply did not have it in her to continue running, if worse comes to worse, she'd just hide in the 'hole' again.

Oddly enough the noises outside stopped, so she just assumed it was over. She faintly remembered that someone with a weird mask was in the crowd, but didn't look like he was chasing her, just looking at her. She disregarded it. She was too tired to think.

After surveying the wasteland which has become her home, she sighed. The graffiti and broken furniture only reminded her of how harrowing this so called life was to her. The day was finally getting to her, breaking her. The redhead's slim legs could hardly carry her to the tiny space which was the corner where her bed was. Even ripped to shreds she knew it would be the most comfortable place to be.

After slowly climbing on top of her bed, she shakily put her right hand over her seven year-old heart, trying to understand why it hurt so much. She managed to avoid getting hit this year, but it still hurt her, she couldn't understand why she was in so much pain if she never got hit.

_'Why... why does it have hurt so much...' _she thought, blinking, and blinking again, and then once more, each time with increasing moisture which was threatening to spill.

Bringing her knees to her chest, she felt the dam which were her ocean-blue eyes finally shatter, releasing not only her tears, but her pain as well. Holding herself, she sobbed bitterly.

"I'll show 'em..." she mumbled quietly, "I'll show all of them!" the Uzumaki claimed, a little more loudly, sorrow and rage evident even in her choked voice.

Since Naruto could remember, her dream was to become the Hokage. She thought that if she did, people would be forced to accept and acknowledge her.

That was why she was crying. Acceptance, acknowledgment... love. These were all things she desperately wanted, _needed_. Holding herself tighter, she looked out of her window which just next to the bed. Taking in the fact that the window was broken as well, the cold nights breeze flowed in and out of opening.

With a waterfall of emotions still flowing through her darkened eyes, she slowly let go of herself and crawled closer to the window. Finally reaching the opening, she took in the sight of the full moon and cloudless night, of which were illuminating her trademark Uzumaki red-hair, as well as her pained, teary face. Slowly shifting her heavy vision to the Hokage monument, she looked over the faces which still to this day protected the village with their eternal gaze.

The God of Shinobi, The Shodaime, founder of the village, wielder of the legendary Mokuton. Naruto knew of Senju Hasirama well, as well as the books she had liberated from the community library could teach her.

Looking on further right, she took notice of the Nidaime. Brother to the Shodaime, Senju Tobirama, who was renowned for his incredible water affinity and his effective if questionable policies as Hokage.

Further on stood the Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Professor was a master of his craft. Having created and collected countless jutsu, he became a force to be reckoned with, even in his old age. Wise, humble, and_ untrustworthy_, as far as Naruto knew.

Despite being so young, her experiences forced her to grow quickly. She still remembered why the current Hokage actually got her the apartment she is currently residing in.

**Flashback no Jutsu**

_The night was October 10th, and there in the alley stood a shivering five year-old child with eyes much older than a girl her age should have. It wasn't the best area to be in, she was sure of that now. In front of the red-head stood no less than six people, all fit with a grin that could paralyze a girl much older than herself._

"_P-please... I didn't d-do anything," the small blue-eyed girl stuttered. She was deathly afraid of what was about to happen. In the orphanage the worst that could happen was her caretaker starving or neglecting her. This would _physically _scar her for life._

_The mob was coming closer, some bore open smiles, some laughed, some cheered, but she could tell what they shared, they were happy about what was to come to her._

_The first came at her quite quickly, running into her and kicking her in the stomach, roughly sending her hurtling into the wall, where she lost conscious from knocking her head on the hard concrete._

_The young man was pleased, his revenge against the beast who was responsible for taking his parents would soon be complete. He and the others stalked closer, but suddenly stopped when they felt a chill in the air. Looking behind themselves, they saw nothing, however when they turned to look back, there was a teen in a weasel mask now in front of them._

_The man who had previously punted Naruto took a step forward, despite the fear building inside his chest, and yelled out "Hey! Let us finish it!" A second later he found himself on the floor, his heart pierced, a fate which followed the rest of the mob soon after._

_The man in the weasel mask was not fond of killing, and only performed the deed when he found it absolutely necessary, such as when people are needlessly trying to murder an innocent child. He pulled his blade out of the last man, briefly cleaning it with a cloth before sheathing the weapon to his waist._

_Turning behind him, he took notice of the small red bundle which was Naruto. A shame he had decided. The teen thought it best to bring her to the Hokage, as she was supposed to be in an orphanage, but she was far away from the nearest one to his knowledge. Walking forward her picked the small girl up, inspecting her for injury as if appraising an antique. Deciding she just knocked her head and was actually okay, he made his way to the Hokage.  
_

_The journey to the Hokage's office was relatively short. Despite it being the anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat, the village was quiet._

_Approaching the door, he opened it, and within he found The Professor battling an enemy that only the Yondaime was powerful enough to defeat._

_The old man took notice of his ANBU captain and smiled, but that smile was short lived as his withering eyes traveled to the young girl his most promising shinobi was holding. Dropping his paperwork, he waited for the teen to begin._

_Weasel recognized the Hokage's prompt and began his report._

"_Hokage-sama, I am here to report that the mission to rice country was a success." The teen stated emotionlessly._

_The Hokage expected as much. Assassinations were becoming a primary source of income when it came to missions, and Weasel was the best despite his young age. "I see," the old man began, "that is good, Weasel-kun, you have a 100% success record," Hiruzen stated. "Keep up the good work and you may just be my next successor," he stated with a smile. "I will have a new mission ready for you tomorrow, and this time it will be of your choice," he finished calmly._

_Weasel almost smiled at that, being able to pick his own mission. He knew that Hiruzen allowed him this as a sort of vacation, as it was obvious he would select a courier assignment, where he could take his own pace. However, he didn't miss how the Sandaime's head nodded a little towards the red-head he was still holding in his arms, silently demanding an explanation._

"_Hokage-sama, while I was returning from my previous mission, I saw Naruto alone in an alley approximately two miles from the orphanage she was to be staying in. When I found her, she was being attacked by a group of people who seemingly wanted to destroy the Kyuubi as a sort of revenge. After she was incapacitated by one of the attackers, I intervened and eliminated the threat to the jinchūriki," Weasel spoke in indifference._

_The Professor sighed softly, his thoughts of how it would be a disaster should the jinchūriki die. His gaze hardened seeing the small girl shift a little in Weasel's arms. "Weasel-kun, I see you know that we cannot afford to allow our jinchūriki to die. It would lead to ruin for Konoha," the old man stated with authority thick in his voice. He began again, "I must thank you for bringing Naruto to me, it seems as if she was removed from her orphanage..." the old man drawled._

_Weasel could see the man thinking, focus clear in his old features. "It seems I must allow Naruto to dwell within her own establishment. I will provide for her an apartment, and I will talk to her about joining the Academy," the Hokage finished, his intentions clear._

_Weasel was not a genius for nothing. "Pardon, Hokage-sama, but would it not be more effective to allow Naruto to have individualized training and molded into a weapon." He knew it was not morally correct, but it would be best for the village. "If we give our jinchūriki advanced training, we would be at a bigger advantage compared to the other villages." Weasel did not like it, but it was the truth._

_The old man sighed, all that Weasel said was definitely true, and it was illogical to continue what he was doing. "Weasel..." the Professor began, his features becoming more rigid, serious. "What you said is without a doubt true, however..." he mumbled the last part, as if in pain. "I made a promise to an old friend, Weasel-kun, and because of that promise, I do what I do."_

_Weasel simply stared uncomprehendingly at what his Hokage said. The prodigy did not miss how the old man's features become more and more... depressing? He did not understand, but he realized he did not have to. He was not supposed to question the Hokage, his leader. It was out of line to even mention what he did. "I... see..." Weasel stated, in what Hiruzen presumed to be confusion._

_The Sarutobi clan head became very serious. "Weasel-kun, sometimes not everything is logical, I still have my intentions for Naruto to become a very powerful Shinobi of this village, and I probably would have done what you had suggested..." He paused, as if to let it sink in. "However, you must remember, sometimes you must sacrifice, instead of for the good of all, for the good of the few. Such as for your loved ones. Otherwise, Weasel-kun, you will become a very hollow man." Hiruzen took in the subtle body language Weasel was emitting. _

_He knew he got his point across, but it couldn't hurt to reinforce it."If you need an example, simply examine my old teammate, Danzō. His work has consumed him. He no longer understands the definition of the words 'morality' or 'emotion'." The Professor relinquished his hardened gaze from Weasel, and instead became a calm old man yet again._

_Weasel was lost in thought. He was a weapon of the village, a perfect, emotionless shinobi to be used. Hiruzen noticed how Weasel was reacting, and came to a decision._

_Smiling, Hiruzen began, "Thank you for your work today, Weasel-kun, please hand over Naruto and I will provide a home for her." Weasel quickly followed the order to the letter, finally releasing the young red-head to the old man. The Hokage looked at the young child with a smile as he held her before looking back to Weasel. "Weasel-kun, you are dismissed."_

_Weasel bowed and made his way to the door, but as he opening it, he heard the Hokage speak one more time._

"_Oh, and Itachi?" the old man began with a smile, waiting for Itachi to look back, which he did. "You are officially off duty for the next thirty days. Use that time to think on what I said." Itachi stared for a split second, before nodding. Hiruzen quietly started, "personally, I suggest spending that time with your family and friends. Goodbye, Itachi."_

_Itachi nodded again, feeling a rare emotion that he thought he shouldn't feel anymore. Happiness. Happiness that things turned out the way they did. Perhaps it was better Naruto be given a chance at a normal life than being turned into a weapon. With that thought he left to the Uchiha compound, leaving Naruto to The Professor._

_Hiruzen sighed softly, putting Naruto down on a chair in his office, before going back to his desk to find a suitable home. After a while, he came to decision. He pulled out the necessary papers for the house, as well as going into his personal vault and getting some ryō for Naruto to start out with._

_After collecting what he needed, and went back to the sleeping red-head and picked her up and headed for the new home personally._

_The redhead woke up in an unfamiliar environment, but that's what she assumed would be the case. She heard some of the discussion of course. Her five year-old brain trying to understand what she had heard. _

"_Hello Naruto-chan," the Hokage began with a smile._

**Flashback no Jutsu – Kai!**

Naruto could only grunt indecently as she thought of what she had heard that night in the strange ninja's arms. It was quite obvious that she was supposed to be turned into a weapon but someone she doesn't know stopped it, and that she was going to be killed and was apparently only saved because she was a 'jinchūriki'. After she had heard that she simply forced herself to sleep rather than pretend as she was.

She had learned just exactly what a jinchūriki was not long after, slipping into the library to investigate what one was.

It was the worst learning experience of her life, and it made so much sense. She was a human sacrifice, a holder for one of the nine bijuu.

It explained everything, and it wasn't fair.

She shivered.

_'I never wanted this...'_ she thought bitterly. After making the connections, she became much more withdrawn from society, trying to only be out when absolutely necessary, such as when she had to go to the Academy.

The Hokage had offered the chance to her, like she knew he would from just before the man named 'Weasel' had suggested making her a weapon and the Hokage agreed but said he couldn't. She still regretted forcing herself to sleep, but she knew she probably would have been discovered at that point.

The Academy was a lonely place. She was there two years early, joining at the age of five rather than seven. From what she could tell, the teachers didn't like her, and because of that they made the training hard for her, often training her incorrectly or simply ignoring her.

She also had no chance to make friends there, as all the parents were aware of her existence and warned their children to stay away from the girl.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't justice. She had been tortured over something she had no part in.

Finally shifting her heavy gaze from the Sandaime, she looked at who she considered the greatest of the Kage, even after learning the truth. She couldn't explain it. After she had learned that she was a jinchūriki and what that meant, she realized that her hero was the one that condemned her to the life she currently found herself in.

She took the revelation hard, but, she still had the highest thoughts of the man, and tried to reason why he did it, why he chose her.

Her pain was for the greater good, but that still didn't make it any easier.

She was an orphan who had just lost her parents, that probably had a factor in it, because no family would ever let their child bear this kind of burden, right? Better to allow the child freedom from parents who would hate her, by making sure there would be no parents to hate her in the first place.

At that moment she could of swore she saw the Yondaime's head shed a tear. She rubbed her raw, teary eyes. An illusion she thought.

_Family_ she was reminded.

The one thing she wanted so badly but realized could never have.

Sparing one last look at the, who she thought was the most powerful and awesome of the Hokage, Namikaze Minato, she crawled back into her bed.

_Family..._

Her emotional state continued to crumble.

"I don't want this!" she yelled for nobody to hear, clutching her stomach, where she likely knew the seal that contained the Kyūbi would be.

"I-it's not f-fair," she mumbled, then becoming more angry at the thought. "IT'S NOT _FAAAAAAAAAIR!_" she screamed, sobbing into the torn and cold mattress. She began to shake horribly, "I... I just w-want... somebody to l-l-lo-love me..." She continued to twitch, until she eventually fell asleep, still crying horribly. She felt so cold.

She was not the only one crying however, inside the seal she had clutched at earlier stood two adults

A mother with the trademark Uzumaki red-hair was sobbing for her daughter throughout the entire ordeal, wishing she could do more to help, to show her that someone really did love her.

"No, honey," she cried, "it's not fair at all, y'know..."

Encircling the sobbing redhead was a blonde with spiky blonde-hair, trying to comfort his wife, but still feeling horrible himself. "She'll be okay..." he tried to reassure, but his voice still cracked. "She'll know someone loves her soon enough... that she's not alone in this world."

Namikaze Kushina smiled at that, it was so like him to try and cheer her up like that, but she still felt horrible. "That doesn't make it any easier to deal with y'know..." she said heartbrokenly.

Namikaze Minato had to agree. The Yondaime's thoughts drifted back to when the sealing took place. He had realized that both of their baby's parents were going to die that night, and they very well should have. But now, they still had the opportunity to be a family.

**Flashback no Jutsu**

_He wasn't a fūinjutsu genius for nothing though, after using the **Shiki Fūjin** he came to the realization that this was going to be the end._

_A thought ran through his head though, while he looked on at his wife saying her last words their wonderful baby girl, their child which was going to be alone in life. _No_ he decided. He was not ready to die yet._

"_-all you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women, so it's only n-natural to take an interest in guys, b-but just don't get hooked on bad men... find s-someone just like your d-dad..." _

_The pain was unbearable, all three sources of it. The Shinigami taking his soul, the Kyūbi's claw which had impaled him, but most of all his wife's last words to their child, the fact that their daughter would have to grow up without her parents.  
_

_He had one last idea to try. Waiting until he could feel the Kyūbi's yin chakra within him, and see the seal to represent the yang was within their daughter, he brought his hands up to form rather familiar seals, and when he finished, he whispered to his love with the last of strength._

"_H-hold on..."_

"_N-naru... we love you..." Kushina whispered, but became confused when she heard her love. "Mina-kun?"_

"_**Fūin!**"_

_Suddenly the father and mother found themselves sucked into a damp sewer._

_'_It worked!'_ Minato's eyes widened. He smiled. _'Well, looks like... at the least Naru-chan will be able to meet her mother,'_ he thought happily._

_Kushina was in shock, did Minato just do what she thought he did? "M-m-min-mina-kun?" the redhead stuttered, looking to her chest to see that the wound was in a sort of stasis, and then she took in her surroundings, it was..._

_She immediately turned around and trapped Minato in an embrace. "You're a genius Mina-kun!" she said excitedly. She was thinking of how they could still be a family, a big happy family, she smiled. Then she noticed the sad smile on Minato's face. _'No...'_ she thought... The_ S_hinigami was going to steal her husband from her and her daughter, when they had the chance to be a happy family again._

_Staring into Minato's eyes she saw the truth in them. "NO!" she screamed, holding him in the hardest embrace she could. "You can't go now! No no no no no NO!" More tears were coming from her eyes. Minato sacrificed everything for her and now he was giving her the chance to be with her daughter, at the cost of his soul. "N-no..." she croaked._

_Staring into her beautiful violet eyes, knowing the shinigami was going to claim him any moment now. "Kushina..." his mind drifted, all of it around the sobbing redhead which was holding him in a death grip. "I love you..." he said absentmindedly. The girl from whirlpool kissed him on the lips, forcing the most love and passion she could._

"_You idiot..." she said, breaking off from the kiss. Minato still stared at her as if she was a priceless gem. "You can't go now y'know? We're going to be happy!" she yelled at him, inches from his face. Minato still could only smile. "We were going to be one big happy family" she cried sinking her head into his chest. "I love you so much... you... you can't go now... not when it's all o-over... please..." she begged, demanding he stay here with her._

_Minato never once stopped beaming. He lifted her head up and stared into her eyes again. "I have no regrets Kushi-chan... I know you'll find a way out of here and be with our daughter..." He's so calm, she thought. "You've made my life so..." he paused, his eyes watering at memories about the love of his life. "Wonderful" he continued, "you're so beautiful" he mumbled quietly._

"_Everything about you... your eyes, your red-hair, your personality, even your cute verbal tick..." he said with love in his voice. She still held his gaze, tears flowing through both their eyes at their final goodbye. "Thank you Kushi-chan..." he started softly, "thank you for making my life so full... so happy... you even gave me a beautiful daughter..." Kushina couldn't take it. He held nothing but love for her, and she felt so guilty. She felt as if it was all her fault... if she hadn't...- "Kushi-chan," he said a little more forcefully, seeing that look in her eyes. "I guess I forgot to mention you always try to take the blame too huh," he said, almost laughing. "This was all me this time..."_

_They both suddenly felt the sewer shake violently, and Kushina knew this was it. He was going to die for her and their daughter, and they would never be together ever again, he would never see the women their cute baby would become. She tackled him to the ground, sobbing. "It's not fair... it's not fair... it's not fair..." she cried bitterly, wishing for a miracle._

_Minato accepted his fate. He of course wanted, badly, to see their daughter grow up and become the incredible kunoichi he knew she would. He turned his focus back to Kushina, knowing he had but seconds left. "Namikaze-Uzumaki Kushina-chan..." he said slowly, "take care of our daughter for me will ya?" Seeing Kushina sadly nod, he smiled even brighter. "I love you..." he said happily._

_Minato knew this was the end. He waited peacefully while the sewer trembled. Minato rose up and tried to push Kushina away, but failed. She still held on as if for her life._

_They both heard a loud cracking noise and looked towards the source, they saw a massive gate, of which they both realized must be where the Kyūbi's yang chakra resided. They looked closer to the seal which was on the center and noticed that it was emitting something._

"**_NAMIKZE MINATO! NO ONE SHALL SUMMON ME AND NOT PAY THE PRICE!" _**_They felt the sewer give another violent shake, cause both of them to lose their balance and collapse. The Shinigami was trying to get through the seal and get to him._

_Kushina's eyes widened. If it got through then Minato would be lost forever. She immediately rushed forward, through what felt to be an earthquake with the intention of saving her husband. Upon reaching the glowing seal on the cage she immediately began to, as quickly as she could, apply every kind of seal she knew on top of the current one stop to stop the Shinigami, despite the difficulty which was overlapping a seal, and overlapping more complicated skills in such a short amount of time at that. She had the motivation and determination though, this would decide whether her husband lived or died, but she couldn't make a single mistake or the seal combination would unravel to it's simplest form, and then surely the Shinigami would break through._

_Minato himself was meditating in what he believed to be his final moments, simply not realizing what Kushina was doing. He had accepted his fate and believed there to be no way out for him this time._

"**_Four Symbols Seal!"_**_ he heard, and his eyes snapped open upon hearing his wife perform the complex seal. _'What is she doing?' _he wondered. He saw__ that his wife fight struggling to layer seals on top of the one the Shinigami was trying to get through._

"**_Four Symbols Seal!" _**_Minato heard again, he sprinted over at top speed to help her, realizing, just maybe, that he didn't have to die. Perhaps he could still be with Kushina... Naruto... They would still be one big happy family._

"_**Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!"**__ Kushina shouted, seeing that the Shinigami had gotten through the original seal that it itself had helped in creating._

_The moment Minato had reached Kushina, power erupted through the many seals and blasted them far back, and then a horrible screeching noise was heard before the Shinigami raged once again. _

"_**NAMIKAZE MINATO! NO ONE CHEATS THE SHINIGAMI! NO ONE!"**_

_Minato's mind was suddenly terrified, he didn't believe he had a chance in the slightest that he would survive summoning the Shinigami, but now there was. He didn't want to die. Both of them stood up and tried to reach the seals again. Just as they were about to reach them, they saw the many seals that had been overlapped unravel, from the base, until all that was left was the final __**Eight Trigrams Sealing Style**__ and Minato cried for the future he knew he was going to lose that he could have had. It was over, he looked longingly one last time at Kushina who was struggling to repair the seal with tears in her eyes._

_The final seal began to shatter, but just as it was, it stopped glowing, and the voice returned._

"**_CURSE YOU NAMIKAZE MINATO!"_**_ the Shinigami roared through the almost broken seal as the sewer continued to tremble, but as it returned again it's demonic voice had faltered, _**_"CuR_**_SE _**_yo_**_u!_**_"_**_ The voice was gone, the shaking of the sewer had stopped_

_The other seals had fallen apart and all that remained was a damaged _**_Eight Trigrams Sealing Style_**_._

_Minato's eyes had widened to the size of saucers. "Kushina..." the Yondaime said in awe. He was still alive, and all was good._

_Kushina's tears still hadn't stopped, just instead of them being sad, they were happy. She did it! She had saved her husband from the god of death! The new mother turned from the seal to her love and hugged him while simultaneously forcing her lips to his._

_Having not needed oxygen in their new environment, they didn't break until nearly three minutes had passed. "You idiot..." his wife giggled, smiling._

_Minato hugged her _hard, _"T-th-thank you... Kushi-chan... thank you thank you th-" he was cut off when Kushina had kissed him again._

**Flashback no Jutsu – Kai!**

He and Kushina were still alive. That's what mattered.

They had only but wait in front of their daughter, their daughter who was quickly locking her cold and abandoned heart off to the world. They both hated having to let their daughter suffer during her birthday. It was meant to be a day of great celebration, not great sorrow. He and Kushina could still repair the damage, even if it took years more for them to escape the seal, their daughter will know their love.

They were going to be a family. It was decided.

* * *

Haku will appear next chapter, which obviously means another timeskip. The main pairing is FemNaru/Haku after all. Review please, thoughts and considerations are highly valued.

I am putting up a poll which is revolved around my other story, The Child of Prophecy, please read that story and vote on the poll, thank you.


	2. 2: A Heart as Cold as Ice

So, new chapter, cool stuff right?

Sort of edited the end of the chapter a little, because of a new (maybe not new, but slower?) approach I want to take to the story which was brought up by a reviewer and the fact that I sort of rushed it because I had to go.

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

_Emphasis_

**"'Tailed beasts/Boss summons/Demons/Emphasis on someone who is angry'"**

* * *

_**I don't own Naruto or Naruto**** Sh****ippuden**_

* * *

Haku woke slightly early, startled.

Shakily bringing a hand up to his heart, he sighed.

He was having the nightmares again. Memories. Reliving the night his father had mercilessly killed his mother, and how he stopped his father dead in his tracks when he lunged for the brown-eyed child. Frozen solid was the father, which left the son's heart in the same state, frozen.

Slightly tearing up at the memory. He began to pack up supplies. They traveled sparsely, always ready to leave at a moments notice, which is perhaps the reason Zabuza didn't notice the emotions his student was experiencing behind the mask he wore to sleep.

Zabuza himself was up just after Haku, he was excited.

He was always looking for a good fight, and that was exactly what he was going to get today. The fat little man, Gatō supplied him with exactly that, a good fight. The contract was to kill a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna, a simple assassination, made more complicated, and by extension more entertaining, by the fact that the engineer was being escorted by the infamous Sharingan Kakashi.

He knew of the cyclop's reputation. He was a man not meant to be fucked with. That didn't matter to the missing-nin however, he had no doubts or fears. Zabuza was the best and he knew it, that's why he wasn't afraid. Kakashi may have copied over a thousand jutsu, but Zabuza was the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Polishing his blood-stained Kubikiribōchō, he grabbed the last of his tools and packed them into his pockets.

Speaking of tools, he looked over to the other side of the cave they were camping in and spotted his best tool, besides his own sword, Haku.

Haku was a fine weapon, of course that is to be expected of anyone he taught. It was obvious to the elder man that the Yuki in front of him was perfect in ways of emotion. He tried to kill any trace of it ever since he found the boy. From experience he knew an emotionless slave would be more useful to him than an emotional, imperfect tool.

He didn't admit he failed though, he was above failure. He had just decided it was not worth his time to try and break the child any longer. So he accepted the boys sadness after a couple years. He still had his uses, so it was fine. Still, he would have rather had a slave.

"Haku," the killer grunted out, "we're going to leave soon, but I want you to stay out of my way."

Haku nodded, understanding that the man in front of him wanted to fight without interruption or distraction.

"However," he spat, "if I'm going to..." he couldn't say the last word. "I want you to get me out of there and retreat." Zabuza wasn't pleased, from what he could tell, there were three other ninjas with Kakashi, so there stood a chance he wouldn't win. He needed to make sure he wouldn't die if things didn't go his way and the other ninjas proved to be more powerful.

Haku briefly considered just letting the man die if things went that direction. The killer was too scared to admit that he could lose. "Yes, Zabuza-sama," the last pure Hyoton user said in his best emotionless voice.

"Good," the man said grudgingly, "we should go now."

Haku nodded again, grabbing the last of his things. His thoughts went to his current situation. He was a slave. It wasn't hard to figure out. Having lost his parents at such a young age and later being taken in by an infamous murderer, he was forced to grow up quick.

He still longed for his mother's embrace. _Love_. It was something he believed he wouldn't ever experience again. He tried to still his heart, he really did, but it still beat with the sadness of his life's truth.

He always did his best to develop his own philosophies, and not merely follow what he's told. He came to his own conclusions more often than not. An example was what he thought of why people should fight.

_'You fight to protect who's precious to you,'_ was the conclusion he reached. This only depressed him further. He had no one who was _truly_ precious to him. This meant, in all honesty, that Zabuza was his most precious person. That was why he fought for the psychotic. It was a horrible line of thought. He would have rather been not as good as reading people as he was, perhaps the pain he felt wouldn't be as great.

He desperately wanted a way out, but to get one, would mean to have someone more precious to him than Zabuza. He couldn't go anywhere but where Zabuza commanded, which meant he had no opportunities to develop that kind of bond with another person. He felt so cold, even though his bloodline provided immunity to physical chill.

He just wanted someone to love him.

Perhaps the was someone out there, someone who he could open his frozen heart to, someone who would understand him, someone he would love, someone who would love _him._

He would just have to wait and see, for now he had to follow Zabuza and protect him.

* * *

After a grueling seven years at the Academy, she was finally getting somewhere!

Their first C ranked mission. She was never this excited, the last time being that she actually graduated.

She had figured out after failing twice on the graduation exam what her problem was. She simply had so much chakra it was impossible to properly perform that stupid **Bushin no Jutsu**. It was odd though, she had merely learned that overnight, as well as the **Kage Bushin no Jutsu**. It was the strangest thing. She thought it could have been the Fox, since the Fox is also the reason she has so much chakra, but that probably couldn't be the case. It was entirely illogical, but she would take what she could get.

Taking the exam again she had passed with flying colors, that **Bushin no Jutsu** was the only thing holding her back. She did excellent at the written test, having gotten most of her knowledge during her time from books rather than the instructors.

In taijutsu she was average at best, she had a very hard time studying this topic by herself, and again, the instructors were useless to her.

Endurance was her highest grade, probably because of the Fox she reasoned. It was the reason she could heal so rapidly, so it made sense.

Jutsu she also did great it, but she didn't pass the other two years because this category you are required to ace all of the various jutsu, and she couldn't get **Bushin no Jutsu** to work, after mysteriously learning the **Kage Bushin no Jutsu** in her sleep, she passed.

Many did not expect her to pass, which was expected she supposed, but her passing wasn't what was on the news. After graduation, Mizuki, which was Naruto's least favorite teacher, was revealed to be a traitor to Konoha after attempting to steal the Scroll of Sealing. He was executed the next day. Naruto wasn't ashamed to admit that made her smile. Mizuki hated her unconditionally, and he got what he deserved in her opinion.

After going through all she did, and now being on her first C ranked, she knew that she was one step closer to being Hokage.

* * *

Within the seal, Minato and Kushina were positively ecstatic that their little girl had passed the academy because of them gifting her the knowledge of her chakra reserves and the **Kage Bushin no Jutsu**.

Kushina in particular was extremely happy to know that she directly helped her cute baby, but that's not to say she still didn't feel anger at Konoha and the Academy for treating her the way they did. She was plotting all the various ways she would get back at those who had wronged Naruto.

Torture into execution for the various instructors. She smiled.

Just plain murder for the people who had chased around Naruto when she was a little child.

Naruto still was a little child, she always will be, Kushina decided.

Pranks to those who should have helped her, but didn't, such as the major clans. She grinned wickedly at the thought of unleashing killer fleas within the Inuzuka compound.

Besides how the two were going to go about punishing people when they got out, they had completely figured out their situation within the seal. Minato had used a complex version of a storage seal on top of the seal which created the Kyūbi's new prison, and it had the effect of sealing them in it as well, but not within the cage.

This worked because the mindscape which was created from the original seal to house the Kyūbi interacted with the advanced storage seal in such a way that it sealed Minato and Kushina within the mindscape. They were free to interact with it as they pleased.

Since Minato held the Kyūbi's yin chakra, he had decided it best to gradually feed it through the seal, so that Naruto will contain all of the Kyūbi's power rather than only half. He began this process when his daughter reached the age of five, and finished when she was twelve. Because the Yondaime had lost his share of the Kyūbi chakra, the Shinigami-made seal on his stomach had vanished, bringing that little bit of reassurance.

Now a true jinchūriki, when she uses the Kyūbi's power, it will be that much more powerful. Of course, it will be harder to control, but Kushina agreed that that doesn't matter, since Naruto will have her and Minato to help her. The first thing they did after getting their emotions under control when they were sealed was fixing the seal the Shinigami almost destroyed on Naruto after all.

Minato had also figured out how they were going to get out of the seal. When Naruto first draws on the Kyūbi's chakra, the seal will be opened enough to where Minato and Kushina will be able to 'unseal' themselves, similar to unsealing a kunai from a storage scroll.

Kushina demanded to try and force the seal, unleashing the Kyūbi's chakra from the inside, so that they could escape, but Minato reasoned that would most likely destroy the seal because Naruto is so young. They mutually decided when Naruto was fifteen, and if she has not drawn upon the Kyūbi yet at that point, that they would force the seal, so that they could unseal themselves and finally meet their daughter. Using this process to a lesser extent they managed to teach their daughter about her chakra and the **Kage Bushin no Jutsu**, but they could only do it once without majorly damaging the seal, so they agreed to do that to help their daughter when they needed it.

Having fourteen years within the seal, they also figured out how to manipulate the mindscape, it was now in the image of a clearing encircled by forest. Many types of animated wildlife and flowers, even a sun and a large tree to hide themselves from it.

After fixing the wounds they both got from the Kyūbi, they also introduced an atmosphere, and later all of their senses. They found they both could still train their skills in their new environment. Since Minato had never been able to complete his elemental rasengan, he now had the chance to complete that among other things, and Kushina could become more well rounded outside of her fūinjutsu.

Since they did not want to train around the clock for what could be up to fifteen years, and that they had all of their senses, that meant they had sex. Lots of sex. Virtually everything up to imagination was attempted. The fact that they did not age while in there helped quite a bit.

That was how they had escaped their constant boredom when not training. Kushina raged and raged and raged in her boredom. Fifteen years to just train was outrageous to her, and having to watch her daughter be tortured didn't help much. Even Minato cracked at one point. So things happened. The last thing they agreed on was that they were going to give their little Naruto a little brother or sister though.

They were both extremely anxious to get out, at most they had to wait was six months until they would get out.

But until then, they had resigned themselves to more waiting, this time they would wait while watching their baby's first C ranked mission, Kushina summoned up popcorn out of the mindscape as they played Naruto's sight through a television while on a comfy couch.

* * *

Tazuna, Naruto decided, was still worth helping, even though he had lied to the team. Not that she had decided to voice her opinion on the matter, it wasn't exactly _their_ problem her cold persona told her.

To the redhead's surprise, Kakashi just grunted, then sighed, then agreed to help the old bridge builder even though he deceived them. Soon after that they found themselves nearing Nami no Kuni. A thick, unnatural mist was beginning to envelop them, and Naruto and her team knew trouble was coming...

* * *

The violet-eyed girl bounced up off the loveseat with a girlish squeal, while Minato thought with a proud, fatherly smile, _'That's my girl!'_

* * *

Haku sighed, Zabuza had been overconfident, took on more than he could handle, not that the murderer would ever admit it. He leaped from the trees he was hiding in after throwing a senbon that placed Zabuza in a near-death state.

Faking that he was a hunter-nin was relatively easy, it wasn't the only time he has done it, _'Zabuza seems to like to put himself into these kinds of situations'_ the Hyoton user thought impassively. He briefly looked into the eyes of each of them, weighing them.

The pink-haired girl, Haku could tell, she had lived a very sheltered life, and saw that she didn't do anything during their team's fight with Zabuza. Pathetic, the Yuki decided.

The last Uchiha was different, Haku was slightly intrigued. He could tell that the onyx-eyed boy had a lot of potential and fought for his own reasons.

The Jōnin was what Haku expected. Professional, calm and collected, probably could have discovered that he was faking being a hunter-nin if given more of a chance.

He turned his eyes towards the last team member for a second, but found himself staring into her brilliant blue eyes for six before breaking off.

"Thank you for helping me in retrieving Zabuza's corpse, I must be going now," the Hyoton user said, almost nervously.

Kakashi nodded as he saw the hunter-nin leave, he turned to address his team. "Well done guys," he said, rather casually as now he was out of the fight. "Tazuna I think we'll be safe for now, so take us to this bridge please."

Naruto was a startled, why did that ninja look at her that way? _'It was like he was looking for something...'_ She was confused. The redhead shrugged it off, she had more important things to worry about. Naruto saw that her team was heading to what appeared to be a boat, she went to go catch up._  
_

* * *

_'Her eyes...'_ Haku thought, with an emotion he didn't quite know what.

After laying Zabuza down on one of the makeshift beds within their little cave and taking off his mask, he decided to go outside. He really needed to clear his head. Having a hard time thinking, he suddenly found himself at a pond, staring into his own reflection. He slowly sat down at the edge of the pond, bringing his right hand up to his eyes, looking into the his own reflection.

_'Her eyes...'_ the Hyoton user gasped, staring back into his brown orbs. _'her eyes... are like mine...'_ he thought in shock. He frowned, noticing how his eyes were lost in water. "I need to talk to her..." he mumbled to himself in a voice he was not familiar with. He noticed the water in front of him begin to slowly freeze over. The last Yuki sighed, knowing that the environment around him typically would become colder when he lost control of his emotions. A thought formed in his head. _'Perhaps I can convince Zabuza that it would be wise for me to try and communicate with them for the sake of trying to lift information.'_ He shook his head, not knowing exactly why he was so interested in that redheaded girl. Perhaps... it was because of that strange warm feeling he fault while looking at her? He'd find out soon.

His mind set, he spared one last glance into the now frozen pool, he stood up and headed back to the cave.

* * *

Minato had grown a little weary, thinking about how that masked ninja was obviously not an actual hunter-nin, but that Kakashi didn't realize it. He already planned on giving his student a piece of his mind once he was released, but now he just let a dangerous murderer get away needlessly. The former Hokage was not pleased.

* * *

She woke up again, breathing hard. A stray tear fell from her face because of the nightmare.

She didn't know that her parents wanted to help her, but couldn't, _yet._

_'Damn it!'_ she thought. The redhead was going mad. _'I'll just go for a walk, maybe I'll train some more too!'_ she decided to herself.

Getting up from her bed, she made a couple dozen shadow clones and sent them to help Tazuna before leaving the house, the quicker the bridge was complete, the sooner she'd be able to leave. Already being here a week, she wanted back home. The redhead was thankful she was able to avoid her team though.

Sakura's needless babbling and annoying rants were the worst. She loathed her pink-haired teammate. Sasuke typically left her alone, but she could still see the malice and hate for her blue-eyed girl in his eyes. Sakura was always trying to bash her for his sake. If Sasuke was not around, then Sakura would be more tolerable, which just served to make her hate both of them more.

Kakashi was the best of the three, seeing as whenever he looked at her, she could see pity. That did not mean he was any nicer to her however. The jōnin had instead preferred to focus on training the Sasuke. He didn't care much to train Sakura either, but that did not prove to be a problem. The fan girl seemed to not want to be trained in the first place, and instead just wished to slave over the last Uchiha.

Slipping out of the door, she made her way into the forest.

While walking, she had let the surroundings truly envelop her. It was actually quite peaceful. The chirping of the birds, the beautiful flowers, and the wonderful weather which brought it all out.

She finally found herself in the middle of a clearing.

Slowly sitting down in the middle, she decided to meditate, clear her mind.

* * *

Naruto and Haku officially confront each other next chapter! :O

So, reviews are cool, you know.

Please read my other story, The Child of Prophecy, and vote on the poll, thx.


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